What To Consider Before Signing Or Creating A Prenup

 Having your significant other sign a prenup can create a sticky situation during a time that otherwise should be joyful. This document can suck the romance out quickly, especially when one person doesn't agree with the terms. With one in three marriages ending in divorce, it is only natural that one would want to protect any assets that were acquired before marriage.
 Honesty is always the best policy, especially when deciding your financial future with your spouse. It may seem like a touchy subject, but it helps to view this as a business arrangement. Be perfectly clear about your intentions, and explain why you need this prenup signed. Here are a few more tips to consider before discussing prenups:
 - Hire an experienced family lawyer who has an extensive background in prenuptial agreements
 - Make a list of  ALL of your assets, and plan to disclose them
 - Keep your prenup up to date, reviewing it every few years
 - Adding an expiration date to the prenup can sometimes make it less awkward to discuss
 - Assets include any professional certification you have obtained after the marriage takes place

 There is a common misconception that only wealthy people need prenups. If you have invented something that hasn't come into fruition before the marriage takes place, then you absolutely need to protect that asset, and this is only a common example. It is not something that should be considered insulting, as you are only trying to protect yourself.

What To Do When One Spouse Ruins The Other Spouse's Business

While it is natural for insults to fly when dealing with an acrimonious divorce, one has to question where to draw the line. If for instance the wife feels so spurned that she makes her complaints public, causing the husband's business to suffer, should the wife still receive 50% of marital assets? The following article covers a case where this happened, during one of the most hostile divorce proceedings in a long time.

The judge could have split this asset 50/50 as was done with the other assets. Instead, the partnership, valued at the commencement of the case at $5 million, was split 83/17 in the husband’s favor. In the judge’s disparaging account, “in essence, the wife chose to bite the hand that fed her.” Although the wife was, in the judge’s view, “well within her rights to publicly raise her concerns about domestic violence,” her repeated attacks against him have played a part in diminishing his income.” Moreover, the judge noted, the leak to the media about the hearing aid dispute was both misleading and unnecessary. It suggested that the daughter was deprived of the hearing aids because of the dispute, but in fact it was only a fight about paying the bill after the fact, which was being considered in court. - See more at: http://verdict.justia.com/2014/04/22/high-price-badmouthing-ones-spouse-divorce#sthash.ZrWaF3C0.dpuf

— Read More At Justia

Should Phone Conversations Reset Separation Time?

In Maryland, it is required that a couple stay separated for a full year before divorcing. If the one of the members involved in the divorce spends the night at the other's residence the separation period will have to start over. Should someone be penalized if they engage in phone conversation or texting with their former spouse? The following article discusses a case that is similar to this situation...

Nick and Jeanine Bergeris married in Maryland in 2006. In June 2010, Jeanine sought and received a restraining order against Nick, which led him to move out. After the order expired six months later, the couple continued to reside in separate residences. They did resume an intermittent sexual relationship, but that ended as well in March 2011. After that time, the parties never spent a night under the same roof and never had in-person intimate contact. But the wife argues, and the husband concedes, that they communicated via telephone calls and text messages that “were of an explicit or provocative sexual nature.” - See more at: http://verdict.justia.com/2014/05/13/married-couples-phone-sex-force-divorce-clock-reset#sthash.7750n7Gy.dpuf

— Joanna L. Grossman

What You Need To Know About Marital Debt

When you first get married, it seems like common sense to share everything - from financial responsibility to frivolous spending on hobbies and interests. This can all seem very exciting at the beginning; and having to consider another person when making important decisions can sometimes make things easier. What most people don't consider is the fact that you will be responsible for the shared debt even if you get a divorce. Read below for more...

If your ex is ordered to pay debts X, Y and Z and fails to do so, a creditor will come after you if your name is also on the loan agreement. That is the most important thing you need to know when it comes to dividing debt during the divorce process.

— Read More At Huffington Post Divorce

Should You Go To A Counselor Or A Lawyer?

When a couple come to the decision to get divorced, one would like to assume that the couple went through all the necessary steps before landing on this choice, but that is not always the case. After deciding that you no longer want to be married, where should you go? Though it is often difficult to maintain clarity during this stressful time, it helps to read advice articles like the one below.

If you are seriously thinking about divorce, your spouse probably is too. Find out your rights and clear up your (mis)impressions from frantic, late-night internet searches. Divorce lawyers will talk you through custody issues, list out assets and debts, and calculate the financial turn-over (what will this cost you and what will you get?). Find out your personal best- and worst-case scenarios, because there is no Google search for your divorce.

— Read More At Huffington Post Divorce

Three Most Important Questions To Ask Before Planning Your Estate

Even though it may seem too early in your life to start estate planning, you still need to consider it in the future. Where do you start? Do you have a trusted estate planning lawyer in your life? The following article asks the three most important questions you have to ask before starting on the road to estate planning.

2. Does my spouse know where all our accounts are located and how to access them? The surviving spouse will need to access money immediately to cover funeral expenses. There may also be hospital bills, and, of course, all of the normal expenses that come with everyday life. Your spouse won't have time to search high and low trying to figure out where the accounts are located or how they can access money. If you can't answer "yes" to this question, you need to make sure your loved ones know where to find this information so as to avoid unnecessary confusion later.

— Read More At Daily Finance

What To Leave Your Children

Planning your estate comes with a litany of concerns and questions,but the truth is that there is no cookie-cutter plan that works for everyone. Some people consider leaving an estate equivocal to leaving a legacy, and that is absolutely true in many cases. Here is an article that will help you determine what type of inheritance you would like to leave your family.

“I have some clients who feel adamant that they made their money and don’t want to give it to anyone,” says Anselmo. Other clients “come with the attitude that they’re going to live forever.” Says Anselmo: “It’s not that they don’t care about leaving a legacy, it’s just that they don’t want to face their mortality.”

— Read More At Marketwatch